Sight with enhanced visibility

ABSTRACT

A bow sight is comprised of a pin guard that defines a sight window. At least one sight pin is coupled to the pin guard for providing a sight point within the sight window. A translucent member impregnated with high visibility colorant is coupled to the pin guard to provide a sight window outlined by high visibility material for better sight acquisition in low light conditions.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention is a continuation-in-part of and claims priorityto U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/482,381, filed on Jul. 7, 2006,by Abbas Ben Afshari, now pending.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to sights for archery bows, rifles,shotguns and other weapons and, more specifically, to sights havingenhanced visibility, especially in low light conditions to providefaster target acquisition.

2. Description of the Art:

Archery bow sights utilizing a plurality of sight pins have been knownin the art for many years. Typically, these sights use a bracket orother mounting structure for mounting the sight to a bow. The sight iscommonly comprised of a pin plate, a pin guard, and a plurality of sightpins which are secured to the pin plate and extend into a sight windowformed by the pin guard. The sight is mounted to a bow in a manner sothat when the bow string is drawn, the archer can look through a peepsight provided in the bow string and align the tip of a pin attached tothe sight with a target. For sights utilizing a plurality ofhorizontally extending sight pins having their tips vertically aligned,each individual sight pin is typically provided for aiming the bow at atarget at a particular distance from the archer. For example, one pinmay be positioned in the sight for aiming the bow at a target 50 yardsfrom the archer while another pin may be positioned for a target that isat 70 yards distance.

In use, the archer typically aligns a peep sight positioned on or formedin the bowstring with one of the sight pins. In order to properly sightin the sight to the bow (i.e., properly adjust sight pin to a particulardistance from the target), each of the sight pins is individuallypositioned and adjusted to correspond to a given distance (e.g., 20yards, 40 yards, 60 yards, etc.) from the bow. The sight pins allow thearcher to better position the aim of the arrow to compensate for targetdistance and trajectory. Thus, the archer estimates his or her distancefrom a specific target (e.g., 20 yards) and utilizes the particularsight pin for that distance.

Some bow sights provide a single sight pin, as for use in targetpractice where the distance from the target does not change or in a treestand scenario where bate is left at a particular distance from thehunter. Such single pin bow sights are incorporated into a pendulumarrangement and are commonly referred to as pendulum sights. Suchpendulum sights are often used in conjunction with tree stands and thelike where the hunter is positioned above the target and is aiming in aseverely downward direction at the ground to animals below the hunter.In such a situation, the distance to target, while not fixed, is usuallywithin a small range thus suited for a single pin sight arrangement.

It is common practice to form the body of the bow sight from a darkmaterial or to cover the body of the bow sight with camouflage coloredfinishes. Doing so, however, requires the archer to locate the bow sightprimarily by locating the sight pins. Because of the relatively smallsize of the sight pins it is thus often the case that a delay occurswhen first drawing a bow resulting from the time it takes to firstlocate the sighting device and then locating the sight pins within thesighting device.

This is also the case with other weapons, such as rifles. While fiberoptics have been employed to provide sight indicia for guns, as, forexample, the gun sights manufactured and sold by Truglo, such fiberoptic sights comprise an elongate strand of fiber optic material to forma sight bead.

Thus, it would be desirable to provide a sighting device thatincorporates a high visibility structure to allow a user to quicklyvisually locate the sighting device when aiming. It would be a furtheradvantage to provide such a sighting device for various types ofweapons.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, in one embodiment of the present invention, a bow sight iscomprised of a pin guard that defines a sight window. At least one sightpin is coupled to the pin guard for providing at least one sight indiciawithin the sight window. A translucent member, impregnated with highvisibility colorant, is coupled to the pin guard. The translucent memberhas a shape similar to the shape of the pin guard when viewed from ashooting position. In another embodiment, the sight pin includes a fiberoptic member forming the sight indicia. The fiber optic member is atleast partially wrapped around the translucent member to gather lightfrom the translucent member and may be wrapped several times around thetranslucent member to form a plurality of windings.

In yet another embodiment, the pin guard is generally cylindrical inshape and defines a front face. The translucent member is at leastpartially inserted within the pin guard and covers a substantial portionof the front face. A high visibility material, such as a fluorescenttape, is disposed on the front face of the pin guard. The highvisibility material is visible through the translucent member.

In still another embodiment, the translucent member defines an exteriorabutment ring having a width approximately equal to a width of the frontface of the pin guard. The high visibility material disposed on thefront face is visible through the abutment ring to provide a contractinghigh visibility color through a portion of said translucent member. Assuch, the translucent ring appears to have two contrasting highvisibility colors.

In another embodiment, the translucent member is generally cylindricalin shape and includes a notched portion for passage of the fiber opticmembers from within the translucent member through the notched portionand to an exterior surface of the translucent member. The notchedportion also allows for adjustability of the sight pins relative to thetranslucent member.

In still another embodiment, each fiber optic member extends from aterminal end defining a sight point through a distal end of a respectivesight pin, through a body of the sight pin, through the notched portionand around an exterior surface of the translucent member.

In yet another embodiment, one of the sight pins is fixedly attachedrelative to the pin guard with the remaining sight pins being verticallyadjustable relative to the pin guard.

In still another embodiment, the sighting device of the presentinvention includes a mounting member configured for mounting to a weaponand a translucent member impregnated with high visibility colorantcoupled to the mounting member. The translucent member defines a sightwindow highlighted by the high visibility colorant. The translucentmember has a circular front face defining the sight window for aiming ata target with the target being viewable within the circular front face.

In still another embodiment, the weapon comprises a rifle having asecond substantially cylindrical mounting member for mounting to therifle and a second translucent member impregnated with high visibilitycolorant having a generally cylindrical configuration coupled to thesecond mounting member. The second translucent member is spaced from thefirst translucent member such that the translucent members are visuallyaligned when aiming the weapon. Thus, one sighting device is locatedproximate a distal end of the barrel of a rifle or other gun and asecond sighting device is located proximate the proximal end of thebarrel of a rifle or other gun, similar to the positions of the twosighting structures (i.e., the front sight and rear sight) typicallyfound on a rifle or shotgun.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that thevarious drawings are for illustrative purposes only. The nature of thepresent invention, as well as other embodiments of the presentinvention, may be more clearly understood by reference to the followingdetailed description of the invention, to the appended claims, and tothe several drawings.

FIG. 1A is a front view of a first embodiment of a bow sight inaccordance with the principles of the present invention showing the bowsight when viewed by an archer in a shooting position;

FIG. 1B is a side view of the bow sight illustrated in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2A is a side view of a translucent ring in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention.

FIG. 2B is an end view of the translucent ring illustrated in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3A is a front view of a sight pin in accordance with the principlesof the present invention.

FIG. 3B is a side view of the sight pin illustrated in FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4 is a partial side view of a sighting device attached to thebarrel of a shotgun in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1A illustrates a bow sight, generally indicated at 10, inaccordance with the principles of the present invention. The sight 10 iscomprised of a pin guard 12 defining a sight window 14. A first sightingstructure 16, in the form of an elongate sight pin, is coupled to thepin guard 12. The first sighting structure defines a sight indicia orpoint 18 at a distal end thereof. The first sighting structure 16 couldbe used alone in as a single pin bow sight. The first sighting structureis fixedly coupled to the pin guard 12. The first sighting structure 16may be integrally formed with the pin guard or attached as by bonding,welding or other methods known in the art to the pin guard. The othertwo sight pins 20 and 22 are adjustably coupled relative to the pinguard 12. As illustrated, the pin guard 12 is provided with a pinattachment portion 24 defining a vertical channel 26. The pins 20 and 22are adjustably coupled with threaded fasteners 28 to the pin attachmentportion 24 such that the threaded fasteners, when not tightly secured,can slide within the channel 26 to allow for vertical adjustment of thepins 20 and 22. The pins 20 and 22 are sighted in, using the pin 16 as areference sight indicia for the closest target range, relative to thefirst pin 16.

The bow sight 10 is mounted to the riser 30 of a bow 32 (partiallyshown) with mounting hardware which includes mounting brackets 34 and 36and threaded fasteners (not visible). The bow sight 10 is configured tobe horizontally adjustable relative to the riser of the bow 30 as withexternally threaded adjustment member 38. Once properly attached to theriser 30, the sight pins 20 and 22 can be sighted for certaindistance-to-target ranges.

FIG. 1A illustrates a view of the bow sight 10 when viewed in a shootingposition as by an archer taking aim at a desired target. As is often thecase when hunting, such bow 32 and bow sight 10 combinations are used attimes of the day when visibility is limited due the lack of ambientlight as is the case in the early morning or late evening. Thus, it isoften difficult to quickly locate the sight points, such as sight point18, in order to position the sight point 18 in visually alignment with adesired target. Thus, there is a need to provide a high visibilitymember 40 over the front face 42 of the pin guard 12 to allow an archerto quickly locate the pin guard 12, which defines the sight window 14,and then quickly locate the sight point 18 for quicker sight acquisitionand target aiming. As such, the high visibility member 40 is comprisedof a translucent material, such as a polycarbonate or other clearplastic material (e.g., acrylic), that is impregnated with a highvisibility, fluorescent pigment. Thus, prior to forming the desiredcomponent, the plastic material is mixed with the pigment prior tomolding the component. The result is a component having a fluorescentcharacter to provide high visibility in low light conditions. Inaddition, in brighter conditions, the high visibility component providesa dominate feature that defines the sight window 14 for rapid targetacquisition.

In order to provide a dual contrast to the high visibility member, ahigh visibility material 44 is disposed on the front face 42 of the pinguard 12. The high visibility material may be in the form of afluorescent tape or paint forming a layer interposed between the frontface 42 of the pin guard and the high visibility translucent member 40.Thus, for example, if the high visibility material 44 is fluorescentorange, and the translucent member 40 is colored with a fluorescentgreen pigment, because of the translucency of the translucent member 40,the inner portion 46 will provide a bright green ring defining the sightwindow 14 with an outer portion 48 forming an outer portion defining abright orange ring. These contrasting colors allow the archer to quicklylocate the sight window 14 and thus the sight pins 16, 20 and 22resulting in much faster target acquisition and aiming.

As further illustrated in FIG. 1B, the bow sight 10 includes the pinguard 12 that is generally cylindrical in shape and may be opaque innature due to the material used for its construction, such as a machinedaluminum. Use of a metal to form the pin guard 12 provides structuralintegrity to the bow sight 10. By forming the mounting brackets 34 and36 from aluminum or other metal components, the entire structure isdurable and can withstand impacts with trees or other objects that maybe encountered in the field.

Attached to the pin guard 12 is the translucent member 40 that is alsogenerally cylindrical in shape. The translucent member may be adhesivelyor threadedly attached to the pin guard 12 or attached by friction fit.The translucent member 40 forms a ring that partially fits within and isattached to the pin guard 12. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, thetranslucent member 40 is comprised of an insert portion 50 sized to bereceived within and secured to the pin guard 12, an abutment portion 52having an outer diameter that is substantially the same as the diameterof the pin guard 12 and a height that is substantially the height of thethickness of the pin guard 12, and an exposed portion 54 that extendstoward the archer and away from the pin guard 12. The exposed portion 54gathers ambient light that and illuminates the front edge 56 of thetranslucent member 40 essentially forming a light pipe with anilluminated proximal end. The translucent member 40 defines a notchextending from the distal end into the exposed portion 54 to allowpassage of the fiber optic members of the sight pins 18, 20 and 22 frominside the translucent member to the outside of the translucent memberwhen attached to the pin guard.

Referring again to FIG. 1B, the fiber optic members 60, 62 and 64 of thesight pins 18, 20 and 22, respectively, are wrapped at least partiallyaround the exposed portion 54 of the translucent member 40 to form aplurality of windings. The windings 65 are held in place with a sectionof transparent tape disposed over the windings 65 and secured to theexposed portion 54. When exposed to ambient light, the light is gatheredby the fiber optic members 60, 62 and 64 to illuminate the sight points,such as sight point 18 shown in FIG. 1A. The ambient light also passesthrough the fiber optic members 60, 62 and 64 and is gathered by thetranslucent member 40 to illuminate the front edge 56 of the translucentmember 40. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the sight pin 20 is comprised ofan elongate body 70 depending from an attachment portion 72. Theattachment portion 72 is provided with a pair of transversely extendingbores 74 and 76. The bore 76 is employed to attach the sight pin 20 tothe pin guard 12 and is further provided with a transversely extendingchannel 78 configured for engaging with the pin guard to preventpivoting of the sight pin 12 relative to the pin guard 12 when attachedthereto. The distal end 80 is provided with a transversely extendingbore 82 for receiving a distal end of the fiber optic member 62. Thedistal end 84 forming the sight point. The fiber optic member 62 forms apartial loop extending behind the front of the sight pin 20 and passesthrough the bore 74. The fiber optic member 62 then extends through thenotch in the translucent member (as previously discussed) and wrapsaround the expose portion of the translucent member. The portion 69 ofthe fiber optic member extending from between the sight pin 20 and thewindings 65 provides sufficient slack to allow for vertical adjustmentof the pin 20 relative to the pin guard 12.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is illustrated the barrel 100 of ashotgun to which sighting devices 102 and 104 according to theprinciples of the present invention are illustrated. The sighting device102, comprising a front sight, includes a mounting bracket 106configured for clamping the sighting device 102 to the rib 108. Thesighting device 102 is positioned proximate the distal end 110 of therib 108. The mounting bracket 106 is comprised of a base portion thatextends over the rib 108 and is held in a clamping manner with athreaded fastener 112. The upper portion 114 forms a partiallycylindrical channel for receiving a substantially cylindricaltranslucent member 116 impregnated with high visibility fluorescentpigment. Thus, the translucent member 116 is essentially a tube held inhorizontal arrangement in parallel with the rib 108. The translucentmember 116 includes a circumferential ring 120 for abutting with themounting bracket to maintain its position relative to the mountingbracket 106.

A second sighting device 104 forms a rear sight for the shotgun and isalso mounted to the rib 108. The second sighting device 104 ispositioned proximate a proximal end of the rib 108 and may be positionedproximate the location of the rear sight for a standard rifle. Thesighting device 104 is comprised of a translucent member 122 in tubularform having a configuration similar to that of the translucent member116. The mounting bracket 124 may be of a similar configuration to themounting bracket 106 or of a different configuration as illustrated. Themounting bracket 124 is configured to maintain the translucent member116 substantially parallel to the rib 108 and thus the barrel 100. Inorder to aim the shotgun, rifle or other weapon, the two sights 102 and104 are aligned such that the translucent member 116 is concentricallyaligned with the translucent member 122. Also, by providing the twotranslucent members 116 and 122 with different contrasting florescentcolors, one can quickly and easily align the two sights, the front sight102 within the rear sight 104, since the front sight 102 will appearsmaller as it is further from the eye of the shooter even though thesights may be of identical size.

With respect to the bow sights illustrated herein, it should be notedthat each sight pin is provided with a single aiming structure, such asa bead or the exposed end of a fiber optic element, provided on the“tip” or “point” of the sight pin. The term sighting indicia or point isthus commonly used to refer to this part of the sight pin that is usedas the aiming reference. For bow sights with multiple sight pins, eachof the sighting points of their respective sight pins are verticallyspaced relative to one another when viewed by an archer in a shootingposition to provide the proper target or aiming reference for aparticular distance-to-target. Thus, each of the sight points representsa specific target distance (e.g., 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 yards). Thus,while the present invention has been illustrated as having one or moresight pins, additional sight pins may be added to increase the number ofsighting indicia for a given sight.

The bow sight pins, pin guards, and support structure assemblies of thepresent invention may be comprised of molded polycarbonate, machinedaluminum components or any other lightweight materials known in the art.The translucent sighting members may be formed of any translucentmaterial, such as polycarbonate, in which the material may beimpregnated with a high visibility colorant to create a fluorescentcoloration to the material for increasing visibility of the material,especially in low light conditions. In addition, the sighting structuresincluding pins, high visibility rings and pin guard components may beseparate components or integrally formed as by casting, molding ormachining. Of course, those of skill in the art will appreciate thatthere may be other means and mechanisms of attaching high visibilitymembers to the pin guard depending upon the configuration of theparticular sight. Thus, by incorporating features of known bow sightsand sight pins into the sight arrangement of the present invention, thebow sight may take on various configurations. For example, it is notnecessary for the pin guard to have a circular shape as there arenumerous pin guard shapes known in the art that may be applied to thepresent invention.

In addition, the principles of the present invention can be incorporatedinto any preexisting bow sight or other weapon sight technology. Thus,the sighting devices according to the present invention may beconfigured to be attached to virtually any preexisting weapon known inthe industry by providing appropriate mounting hardware.

Accordingly, while the present invention has been described withreference to certain embodiments to illustrate what is believed to bethe best mode of the invention, it is contemplated that upon review ofthe present invention, those of skill in the art will appreciate thatvarious modifications and combinations may be made to the presentembodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas recited in the claims. The claims provided herein are intended tocover such modifications and combinations and all equivalents thereof.Reference herein to specific details of the illustrated embodiments isby way of example and not by way of limitation.

1. A bow sight, comprising: a pin guard defining a sight window; atleast one sight pin coupled to said pin guard for providing at least onesight indicia within said sight window; and a translucent memberimpregnated with high visibility colorant coupled to said pin guard,said translucent member having a shape similar to the shape of said pinguard when viewed from a shooting position.
 2. The bow sight of claim 1,wherein said at least one sight pin includes a fiber optic memberforming the sight indicia.
 3. The bow sight of claim 2, wherein saidfiber optic member is at least partially wrapped around said translucentmember to gather light from said translucent member.
 4. The bow sight ofclaim 1, wherein said pin guard is generally cylindrical in shapedefining a front face, said translucent member at least partiallyinserted within said pin guard and covering a substantial portion ofsaid front face.
 5. The bow sight of claim 4, further comprising a highvisibility material disposed on said front face of said pin guard, saidhigh visibility material being visible through said translucent member.6. The bow sight of claim 5, wherein said translucent member defines anexterior abutment ring having a width approximately equal to a width ofthe pin guard, said high visibility material being visible through saidabutment ring.
 7. The bow sight of claim 2, wherein said translucentmember is generally cylindrical in shape and includes a notched portionfor passage of said fiber optic member from within said translucentmember through said notched portion and to an exterior surface of saidtranslucent member.
 8. The bow sight of claim 7, wherein said fiberoptic member extends from a terminal end defining a sight point througha distal end of said at least one sight pin, through a body of said atleast one sight pin through said notched portion and around an exteriorsurface of said translucent member.
 9. The bow sight of claim 1, whereinsaid at least one sight pin comprises a plurality of sight pins, one ofsaid plurality of sight pins being fixedly attached and the other ofsaid plurality of sight pins being adjustably attached to allowadjustment relative to said pin guard.
 10. A sighting device,comprising: a mounting member configured for mounting to a weapon; atranslucent member impregnated with high visibility colorant, saidtranslucent member coupled to said mounting member and defining a sightwindow highlighted by said high visibility colorant, said translucentmember having a circular front face defining the sight window for aimingat a target, said target being viewable within said circular front face.11. The sighting device of claim 10, wherein said weapon comprises arifle and further including a second substantially cylindrical mountingmember for mounting to the rifle and a second translucent memberimpregnated with high visibility colorant having a generally cylindricalconfiguration coupled to said second mounting member, said secondtranslucent member spaced from said translucent member such that saidtranslucent members are visually aligned when aiming the weapon.
 12. Thesighting devices of claim 10, wherein said weapon comprises a bow andfurther including at least one sight pin coupled to said substantiallycylindrical mounting member for providing at least one sight indiciawithin said sight window, said translucent member coupled to saidmounting member and having a shape similar to the shape of said mountingmember when viewed from a shooting position.
 13. The sighting device ofclaim 12, wherein said at least one sight pin includes a fiber opticmember forming the sight indicia.
 14. The sighting device of claim 13,wherein said fiber optic member is at least partially wrapped aroundsaid translucent member to gather light from said translucent member.15. The sighting device of claim 10, wherein said mounting member isgenerally cylindrical in shape defining a front face, said translucentmember at least partially inserted within said mounting member andcovering a substantial portion of said front face.
 16. The sightingdevice of claim 15, further comprising a high visibility materialdisposed on said front face of said mounting member, said highvisibility material being visible through said translucent member. 17.The sighting device of claim 16, wherein said translucent member definesan exterior abutment ring having a width approximately equal to a widthof the mounting member, said high visibility material being visiblethrough said abutment ring.
 18. The sighting device of claim 13, whereinsaid translucent member is generally cylindrical in shape and includes anotched portion for passage of said fiber optic member from within saidtranslucent member through said notched portion and to an exteriorsurface of said translucent member.
 19. The sighting device of claim 18,wherein said fiber optic member extends from a terminal end defining asight point through a distal end of said at least one sight pin, througha body of said at least one sight pin through said notched portion andaround an exterior surface of said translucent member.